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National Observer
05-05-2025
- Business
- National Observer
It's time to shift from relief to gratitude as Carney helps steer the climate transition
There were a long few moments of icy fear as the early vote results trickled in from Atlantic Canada on Monday evening. Befuddled pundits began wondering aloud whether the pollsters had indeed been wrong and Maple MAGA would vastly outperform expectations. The next morning it became clear that a similar foreboding must have shuddered through Danielle Smith's watch party. The Trump-courting premier appeared not just relieved but almost exuberant that she could stick to her script and kick the federal Liberals around for the foreseeable future. It's an old dynamic, but an effective one: Doug Ford's advisers urged him to rush to the polls while Trudeau was still in office. Danielle Smith is presiding over record oil production but gets to play the outraged victim. 'Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government… As Premier, I will not permit the status quo to continue,' Smith said in a statement teasing 'processes' and 'options' for the path forward. 'We will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa.' Viewed from beyond the Prairies, the argument is breathtakingly audacious. Oil and gas production is at an all-time high. The federal Liberals bought and rammed through an oil pipeline to the West Coast to the tune of some tens of billions in opaque cost overruns, and yet it isn't being used to capacity. Meanwhile, another new pipeline has blasted its way past Indigenous opponents and begun delivering gas to LNG Canada, billed as the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. More LNG projects are approved already. The fossil fuel industry is insatiable. Oil prices low? Oil prices high? Trump in office? Biden in office? War in Europe? Peace on Earth? The answer is suspiciously similar: unleash us. But the industry is also yoked to the vagaries of the global market. And right now, oil prices are collapsing, the Saudis are girding for battle, and who knows what the orange menace might do next. If the oil patch sours, Danielle Smith will be especially relieved to have a time-tested scapegoat in Ottawa. On the other side of the ideological gulf, progressives and climate advocates had dodged an outcome that seemed inevitable just weeks before: four, maybe eight, maybe 10 years of a Poilievre government, openly hostile to climate action, environmentalism and other woke globalisms. Instead, we got Prime Minister Mark Carney. A woke globalist from central casting. A long-time climate advocate, married to even more of a climate advocate. An international envoy on the topic appointed by the UN. A double central banker famous for prodding the titans of finance on their duties to future generations. A global player who'd been arguing the vast majority of fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. And who literally wrote the book on Value(s). Even if we're clear-eyed about the domestic and global challenges facing Carney's government, we've got to recognize that this has been an extraordinary reversal of political fortunes, writes Chris Hatch I'm not nearly as sanguine as the great Bill McKibben about the prospects for Mark Carney to deliver. But considering McKibben's long and relentless (not to mention insightful and prolific) commitment to the fight against climate change, it's well worth hearing his take: 'In Carney we now have the world leader who knows more than any of his peers about climate change. And who knows roughly twenty times as much about climate and energy economics as anyone else in power. He may turn out to be a truly crucial figure in the fight to turn the climate tide.' McKibben goes on to describe Carney's past work as a 'great boost' to the climate movement and concludes: 'I'd say the rest of the world is going to recognize Carney as the most likely person to midwife us through this transition. I think he's not done playing a world-historical role.' Wow. Now, it's possible that McKibben is envying us our new PM from the distorted perspective of a Trumpian shithole. But even if we're clear-eyed about the domestic and global challenges facing Carney's government, we've got to recognize that this has been an extraordinary reversal of political fortunes. We might even permit ourselves a moment to move beyond relief to gratitude. We should be grateful the vote was not dominated by dudes, for example. If you're relieved not to face a Poilievre government, Canadian women (notably in Quebec) are the voters to thank. And another worthy object of gratitude is the group of fellow citizens willing to launch themselves into the misery of modern politics. Without climate-minded politicians, we don't get climate policy. Some climate champions lost their seats, reports Natasha Bulowski. But we can also be grateful to welcome several newcomers. Shannon Miedema After 15 years fighting (inside) city hall, Miedema will represent Halifax for the Liberals. She shepherded Halifax's climate action plan from conception through implementation. 'For those who don't know me, my name is Shannon Miedema,' she announced when seeking the Liberal nomination. 'I'm a lifelong climate advocate and public servant.' She's a former president of the Young Naturalists Club of Canada and now has to give up the job as her city's director of environment and climate change because she rocked her riding with 63 per cent of the vote. Gregor Robertson The former Mayor of Vancouver, founder of Happy Planet and farmer once restored a wooden sailboat and sailed across the Pacific with no electronic gizmos. I should admit to some bias here — Robertson is a friend and sometimes soccer teammate ('elbows up' is no mere metaphor for him, as my own ribs can attest). Before his election as mayor, he was a provincial NDP MLA, so with his victory in Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby, he's completed the trifecta and now been elected to all three levels of government under three different party flags. Robertson was a driving force behind Vancouver's Greenest City Action Plan and personally scouted all the new bike lanes. He went on to work for global coalitions of mayors for climate action and then joined Carney's campaign to revive Canadian environmentalism. He and Miedema are being mooted by those in the know as likely cabinet members. Eric St-Pierre A fellow lover of electric school buses, St-Pierre was executive director of the Trottier Family Foundation for the last nine years. The foundation has supported loads of worthy climate projects across the country (as well as this newsletter). But St-Pierre also leveraged his role to co-create a number of other initiatives, including the Climate Champions Initiative, mobilizing $450 million in new climate philanthropy. He also co-founded Low Carbon Cities Canada and will be the new député for honoré-mercier on the Island of Montreal. Patrick Bonin The Carney Liberals are likely to feel the heat from Patrick Bonin, a Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner. Bonin left Greenpeace and ran for the Bloc Québécois. He was elected to represent the riding of Repentigny. 'Patrick led Quebec's climate and energy campaign and has over a decade of environmental campaigning experience,' enthused Caroline Brouilette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac), noting that the Bloc endorsed CAN-Rac's policy proposals in full. It's only a partial list but we can't move on without mentioning some returning MPs. Elizabeth May Elizabeth the Unbeatable delivered the Greens' only seat in the next Parliament. Defying the bookies, May was reelected in her riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands by more than seven points over the Liberal candidate and 14 points over the Conservative. May started as an environmental lawyer in 1983 and got her first government gig in 1986 — policy advisor to the environment minister in the Mulroney government. It was a different flavour of Conservative party in those days, and May was central to the team that landed the 1987 Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer. Still irrepressible at 70 years old, she may be a lone Green voice, but she won't be a quiet one. Leah Gazan Gazan calls herself 'ProudLakota' online and she'll be back representing Winnipeg Centre for the NDP. Gazan introduced the Climate Emergency Action Act, and it was her motion that forced Parliament to recognize the atrocities of the Indian Residential Schools as genocide. She's been a tireless advocate for Missing Indigenous Women and Girls and a key advocate for the Red Dress Alert system. She won't have many NDP colleagues in Ottawa but Alexandre Boulerice, a reliable climate advocate will return representing Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. ...and several others Olympic gold medallist Adam van Koeverden is back for the Liberals after winning the new Ontario riding of Burlington North-Milton West. Van Koeverden has been a persistent pest advocating for a Youth Climate Corps and by the end of the campaign, all parties except the Conservatives had promised to stand up a Climate Corps program. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was reelected in the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York. 'Nate' was one of the few to openly defend the carbon tax beyond its bitter end. 'The lies won,' he wrote in February. 'We failed to defend it successfully… We should all be embarrassed that we've let shameless politics kill a system that cost-effectively reduces pollution and ensures the poorest are overwhelmingly made better off.' And to round out our partial list, let's offer some gratitude to one of the most vilified people in the country. It's hard to imagine living Steven Guilbeault's life with the relentless smears and threats. And yet he'll be back, reelected overwhelmingly by voters in the Montreal riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie. Guilbeault beat his nearest opponent by over 33 percentage points. He'll be reunited with his former cabinet colleague, Johathan Wilkinson — such a stubborn advocate for cleantech that he's still driving a hydrogen fuel cell car around North Vancouver. How he withstands the fossil-fuelled onslaught and the cesspit of social media is truly beyond me. It's hard to imagine being an elected representative these days. And that's the point of offering some gratitude this week. We'll get back to regular programming and crapping on the politicians soon enough. But for now, in this moment of relief, thank you to all you who stood up.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
This Rookie Politician Just Ousted Canada's Conservative Leader From Parliament
OTTAWA — Bruce Fanjoy has the ultimate underdog story in Canadian politics. He's a stay-at-home dad who decided to run as a Liberal in the conservative stronghold of Carleton, an electoral district just outside of Ottawa made up of farmers and suburbanites. Oh, and his opponent was the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, who had held the seat for over 20 years, and was running to become prime minister of Canada. Then Fanjoy began door knocking, starting in 2023, and wearing through two pairs of his sneakers and a pair of boots. People told him he was never going to win, and it was a lost cause. But Fanjoy knew better — especially after Donald Trump started ramping up his threats against Canada. 'There was a sea change in what I was hearing at the doors,' Fanjoy said in an interview with POLITICO Magazine. On election night in Canada, Poilievre didn't just lose his bid for prime minister — the party's 25-point lead evaporating in the blink of an eye — he lost his seat in Parliament. It was a stunning upset, with Fanjoy winning by over 4,300 votes, which helped form the Liberal Party's minority government and left the Conservative Party of Canada scrambling over who will lead them. 'If there was one surprise that I had in this campaign in Carleton, it's that Pierre barely showed up,' Fanjoy said. 'After all his time as MP, he took the riding for granted, and nobody likes to be taken for granted.' This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. A lot of people were very skeptical you could win. Why do you think you had a chance? We ran a positive campaign, in remarkable contrast to Pierre's style of politics. We attracted a small army of volunteers. As this campaign carried on, more and more and more people believed in what we were doing and that was shown on election night. But we knew it was there for a long time, and it was still very, very gratifying to see it come together. So, how did you beat him? We outworked him. We were present. We were all over the riding. We were connecting with voters. People appreciated the fact that we were present and that we offered a positive alternative to Pierre. If there was one surprise that I had in this campaign in Carleton, it's that Pierre barely showed up. After all his time as MP, he took the riding for granted, and nobody likes to be taken for granted. The last time we talked, you compared your mission to defeat Pierre Poilievre as an opportunity for Canadians to take down their version of Donald Trump. Do you feel like you saved the country from 'Maple MAGA'? I wouldn't go that far. I know that what we did was very important to Canadians, and that's why, not only in Carleton, but the whole country was behind what we were doing. Across Canada, people see that Pierre is too far right, and that made people very uncomfortable, including people who have traditionally voted conservative in this riding. This became a referendum on Pierre Poilievre. The result is very clear that Canadians want responsible leadership. They want serious leadership. And this is no time to be flirting with the kind of politics that we're seeing down to the south. You previously said you went door-knocking five days a week. What were you hearing on those doorsteps? There was a sea change in what I was hearing at the doors when we moved into 2025. Canadians recognized we were facing another U.S. administration led by Donald Trump and some of his hostile rhetoric toward Canada, our economy and our political sovereignty. And under the change in leadership of the Liberal Party in Mark Carney, we couldn't have anyone better to meet this critical moment in our history. People in Carleton could see that. Carleton was ready to move on from Pierre Poilievre. They're very familiar with his style of politics, and quite frankly, a lot of people had enough of it. What came to mind when you learned you were about to win? I was just enormously happy for all the volunteers that have worked so hard and poured their heart and soul into this campaign. It was humbling to see hundreds upon hundreds of people arrive at a campaign office wanting to help. The volunteers are the story of this campaign. We had people who were stepping up for the first time in their lives to get active in a campaign. In some cases, people came considerable distances because they saw this as the most important election of our lifetimes. And they recognized that Carleton played a super-sized role in what direction this country was heading. Has Pierre Poilievre called to congratulate you? I haven't heard from him. I don't know that he will. That's up to him. What would you say to him if you did talk? I would say thank you for your call. To be quite honest, I don't know what I would say to him, it would probably depend a great deal on what he said to me. People run against each other in politics, this is nothing new, and this is a time where we just have to come together as Canadians, and that includes Canadian parliamentarians. The times are too important for people who are putting their party ahead of their country. This is not a time for that nonsense. Has Mark Carney personally reached out since you won? We are going to be talking very soon. He's been very busy, and I don't expect he got much rest the other night, but I'll be talking to him. How do you expect the Liberals will govern as they face down Donald Trump? They will govern with principle. They will govern in the best interests of Canadians. This Liberal government is filled with people who are committed to their communities and committed to this country. We'll come together. We'll work with other parliamentarians. But Mark Carney is a recognized economic leader, and we're going to do what's necessary to support Canadians, Canadian industry, Canadian workers and families to weather this storm. You're a first-time politician. Are you worried about what politics could do to you or change in you? No, I know who I am and I'm going to be true to my values. I always will. I grew up playing competitive sports, I had a career in the private sector, so I understand what it's like to compete. I know that there will be challenging moments, but that's because we have big issues to deal with. My focus is on getting to work.
Politico
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
This Rookie Politician Just Ousted Canada's Conservative Leader From Parliament
OTTAWA — Bruce Fanjoy has the ultimate underdog story in Canadian politics. He's a stay-at-home dad who decided to run as a Liberal in the conservative stronghold of Carleton, an electoral district just outside of Ottawa made up of farmers and suburbanites. Oh, and his opponent was the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, who had held the seat for over 20 years, and was running to become prime minister of Canada. Then Fanjoy began door knocking, starting in 2023, and wearing through two pairs of his sneakers and a pair of boots. People told him he was never going to win, and it was a lost cause. But Fanjoy knew better — especially after Donald Trump started ramping up his threats against Canada. 'There was a sea change in what I was hearing at the doors,' Fanjoy said in an interview with POLITICO Magazine. On election night in Canada, Poilievre didn't just lose his bid for prime minister — the party's 25-point lead evaporating in the blink of an eye — he lost his seat in Parliament. It was a stunning upset, with Fanjoy winning by over 4,300 votes, which helped form the Liberal Party's minority government and left the Conservative Party of Canada scrambling over who will lead them. 'If there was one surprise that I had in this campaign in Carleton, it's that Pierre barely showed up,' Fanjoy said. 'After all his time as MP, he took the riding for granted, and nobody likes to be taken for granted.' This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. A lot of people were very skeptical you could win. Why do you think you had a chance? We ran a positive campaign, in remarkable contrast to Pierre's style of politics. We attracted a small army of volunteers. As this campaign carried on, more and more and more people believed in what we were doing and that was shown on election night. But we knew it was there for a long time, and it was still very, very gratifying to see it come together. So, how did you beat him? We outworked him. We were present. We were all over the riding. We were connecting with voters. People appreciated the fact that we were present and that we offered a positive alternative to Pierre. If there was one surprise that I had in this campaign in Carleton, it's that Pierre barely showed up. After all his time as MP, he took the riding for granted, and nobody likes to be taken for granted. The last time we talked , you compared your mission to defeat Pierre Poilievre as an opportunity for Canadians to take down their version of Donald Trump. Do you feel like you saved the country from 'Maple MAGA'? I wouldn't go that far. I know that what we did was very important to Canadians, and that's why, not only in Carleton, but the whole country was behind what we were doing. Across Canada, people see that Pierre is too far right, and that made people very uncomfortable, including people who have traditionally voted conservative in this riding. This became a referendum on Pierre Poilievre. The result is very clear that Canadians want responsible leadership. They want serious leadership. And this is no time to be flirting with the kind of politics that we're seeing down to the south. You previously said you went door-knocking five days a week. What were you hearing on those doorsteps? There was a sea change in what I was hearing at the doors when we moved into 2025. Canadians recognized we were facing another U.S. administration led by Donald Trump and some of his hostile rhetoric toward Canada, our economy and our political sovereignty. And under the change in leadership of the Liberal Party in Mark Carney, we couldn't have anyone better to meet this critical moment in our history. People in Carleton could see that. Carleton was ready to move on from Pierre Poilievre. They're very familiar with his style of politics, and quite frankly, a lot of people had enough of it. What came to mind when you learned you were about to win? I was just enormously happy for all the volunteers that have worked so hard and poured their heart and soul into this campaign. It was humbling to see hundreds upon hundreds of people arrive at a campaign office wanting to help. The volunteers are the story of this campaign. We had people who were stepping up for the first time in their lives to get active in a campaign. In some cases, people came considerable distances because they saw this as the most important election of our lifetimes. And they recognized that Carleton played a super-sized role in what direction this country was heading. Has Pierre Poilievre called to congratulate you? I haven't heard from him. I don't know that he will. That's up to him. What would you say to him if you did talk? I would say thank you for your call. To be quite honest, I don't know what I would say to him, it would probably depend a great deal on what he said to me. People run against each other in politics, this is nothing new, and this is a time where we just have to come together as Canadians, and that includes Canadian parliamentarians. The times are too important for people who are putting their party ahead of their country. This is not a time for that nonsense. Has Mark Carney personally reached out since you won? We are going to be talking very soon. He's been very busy, and I don't expect he got much rest the other night, but I'll be talking to him. How do you expect the Liberals will govern as they face down Donald Trump? They will govern with principle. They will govern in the best interests of Canadians. This Liberal government is filled with people who are committed to their communities and committed to this country. We'll come together. We'll work with other parliamentarians. But Mark Carney is a recognized economic leader, and we're going to do what's necessary to support Canadians, Canadian industry, Canadian workers and families to weather this storm. You're a first-time politician. Are you worried about what politics could do to you or change in you? No, I know who I am and I'm going to be true to my values. I always will. I grew up playing competitive sports, I had a career in the private sector, so I understand what it's like to compete. I know that there will be challenging moments, but that's because we have big issues to deal with. My focus is on getting to work.
